A wide variety of food and drink products, as well as other perishable items, are packaged in tubular composite multi-ply containers constructed to be opened at either one of two spaced ends which are sealed, either permanently or with a removable seal, or by being opened along a sidewall seam, in order to gain access to the products packaged within the container. Composite multi-ply containers such as these are also commonly used to package cleaning products, for example powdered cleansers, as well as selected petroleum products to include lubricating greases.
Multi-ply containers of this type are typically formed on an elongate shaping mandrel by wrapping the several plies of the container about the mandrel in known fashion. Accordingly, these containers will have a continuous liner ply, typically an impervious layer such that the products packaged within the container will not leak out of the container nor allow ambient air to enter into the container; a continuous structural body ply, typically made of paperboard which is wrapped about the liner ply and adhered thereto during the container formation process; and a continuous exterior label ply wrapped about the body ply and bearing any desired product trade dress and/or markings thereon. These multi-ply containers can also be formed by using a series of guides, or plows, to convolutely wrap the plies of the container about the shaping mandrel, such that rather than having a spiral or helical seam, the container will have a longitudinal seam where the various plies adjoin themselves as they are wrapped about the mandrel.
Composite multi-ply containers of this type have been well received in the marketplace, and thus are now found in use throughout a wide variety of applications, as described above. Due to the common usage of these types of containers, however, the need has arisen to provide an improved composite multi-ply container which will distinguish the container, and the products packaged therein, when placed in a retail display environment so that the package and the product therein becomes more noticeable. Although the markings printed as a part of the label ply serve, to some extent, to attract a consumer's attention to the container, when faced with a variety of otherwise identically sized and shaped containers, consumers will not necessarily notice any one container more so than any other container.
Additionally, the products packaged within the container, for example refrigerated doughs, can oftentimes exert an internal pressure or force directed radially outwardly of the container such that the need exists to improve the container's resistance to rupture by reinforcing the sidewall of the container. Also, along with reinforcing the sidewall of the container, any such reinforcement should also act to provide a cushioning effect so that as the containers are handled during processing, shipment, and display, they will be cushioned along their sidewalls in the effort to minimize sidewall rupture and/or damage. In particular, it would be desirable that these containers have an improved resistance to being crushed through side impact, and which will tend to evenly distribute the force of such impacts along the length of the container sidewall.
One such example of a composite multi-ply container which presents the need for improved sidewall strength and sidewall cushioning, in conjunction with a need for improved thermal insulation, is a refrigerated dough container of the type known in which the composite multi-ply tubular container is provided with a pair of metal or plastic end caps affixed to the tube. A label ply is constructed and arranged to be at least partially delaminated from about the body ply in order to allow access to the continuous joint formed in the body ply as it is wrapped about the shaping mandrel, and which joint is pressed with a blunt object, for example the rounded tip of a knife, to "pop" the container open by using the pressure of the dough to force the container open. By providing a container with improved sidewall strength and which will also have greater thermal insulation properties along its sidewall, the dough will be less likely to become warmed and will then not seek to expand as quickly as it would otherwise.
Lastly, and as known to most consumers, these types of composite multi-ply containers are formed to have a smooth continuous sidewall, such that when the body ply is overwrapped with the label ply, these containers will typically have a slick or glossy appearance and feel such that the possibility exists that the container can slip from a consumer's hand during use damaging both the container and the products packaged therein. Thus, it is desirable to provide an improved multi-ply container which will be easier to grasp and hold along its sidewall.
Examples of multi-ply containers used for packaging products are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,943,540 to McBain; U.S. Pat. No. 3,035,753 to Erekson; U.S. Pat. No. 3,154,237 to Culley; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,940,496 to Turpin, et al. The containers disclosed in the patents to Erekson, Culley, and Turpin are spirally wound multi-ply refrigerated dough containers of the type generally described above, each of which is constructed to be opened by exposing the spiral seam of the body ply portion of the container by either removing the label ply and exposing the body ply, or by grasping a tab and removing an elongate strip which covers the seam for exposing the seam to open the container. In the patent to Turpin, et al., this strip is shown to be a spirally wound reinforcing element received on the body ply of the container on the butt joint formed where the side edges of the body ply adjoin one another as it is wrapped about the shaping mandrel. This reinforcing strip is designed to be affixed to and removed with the label, or to be permanently adhered to the body ply such that after the label is removed and the reinforcing strip is grasped and pulled, the body ply will be opened by the strip.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved composite multi-ply container having improved outward visibility for better consumer recognition. Such a container would also preferably improve the strength and cushion the sidewall of the container, and improve the insulation properties of the container. It would be even further beneficial if the container could be securely grasped by consumers in opening or handling the container. Such a container should be easy to manufacture on existing container manufacturing lines, rugged and durable both in structure and in use, but also be constructed to not otherwise hinder or impede the opening of the container at its ends, or along its sidewall.